Premature babies

What: If a working parent is applying for or getting parental leave payments and their baby arrives before the end of 36 weeks’ pregnancy, they can get:

preterm baby payments for up to 13 weeks

parental leave payments when they go back on parental leave — if it’s no later than the original expected due date.

If they go back to work for a period between the preterm baby being born and the original expected due date of the baby — other than for their keeping in touch hours — they will lose any remaining entitlement to preterm payments.

But they’ll still be entitled to up to 18 weeks’ parental leave payments — or however many weeks are remaining — if they’ve stopped work before the original expected due date and if the baby hadn’t been born prematurely.

For more information on parental leave, go to the Employment New Zealand website.